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THURSDAY, Nov. 18, 2011 (MedPage Today) — One American in five takes psychiatric medication for conditions such as depression and anxiety, and use of the drugs is more common among women, researchers found.

The number of prescriptions for psychiatric and behavioral meds rose 22% between 2001 and 2010, according to an analysis of prescription drug data by Medco Health Solutions, a pharmacy benefits management company.

More than a quarter of American women (26%) take such drugs — including antidepressants, anti-anxiolytics, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs, and atypical antipsychotics. That compares with 15% of men.

Although women 45 and older had the highest usage overall, men ages 20 to 44 had the greatest increase in use — a 43% rise — over 10 years.

The report also found that the highest prevalence of psychiatric medication use occurred in the South Central region of the U.S., with 23% of people in that area on the drugs.

The area, which includes Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, is also known as the "diabetes belt" and the "stroke belt" for its disproportionate distribution of those conditions.

Residents the East North Central region, which includes Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan, had the lowest prevalence of psychiatric drug use at 15%.

Of the four classes, antidepressants were the most commonly used drug. Just over 20% of women older than 20 took antidepressants, and that proportion jumped 29% between 2001 and 2010, according to the report.

Older women — those 65 and up — accounted for the largest proportion of the increase, the researchers wrote, and while men use antidepressants far less, the number of antidepressant prescriptions for them was up 29% over 10 years.

Women also have the greatest use of anti-anxiety medications, with 11% of middle-age women taking them compared with 5.7% of men that age.

They also had greater use of atypical antipsychotics, though the report notes that men have more recently experienced greater increases in prescriptions.

Overall prevalence of the use of atypical antipsychotics rose 3.5-fold among patients ages 20 to 64 over the last 10 years.

And although the prevalence of the use of atypical antipsychotics in children remains low, the report said, it still doubled over the study period.

Women were also slightly more likely to be on medications for ADHD than men in 2010, but at younger ages use of the compounds is far more prevalent among boys.

Still, the report noted that the number of ADHD prescriptions written for girls rose nearly 40% over the 10-year study period.

The findings are based on a review of prescription drug claims from more than two million patients in the U.S. between 2001 and 2010.